By Ricky DeMaio
Social media can be a scary game to the inexperienced. It seems complex, and so you might be inclined to implement equally complex strategies to achieve your goals.

But a common phrase my cohort Tim and I often throw around to keep each other on track is one that may be familiar to you: Keep it simple, stupid!Social media doesn’t have to be a scary or confusing game! Sometimes though the questions may seem hard, the answers are easy. Here are a few simple tips to make the most of your social assets while playing the game.

Facebook Ads

When it comes to expanding your reach, and growing your Facebook fan page, Facebook fanning ads are best when paired with engaging content that fans want to interact with. But while Facebook’s ad platform might seem overwhelming at first glance, there’s no need to make things complicated. Keep your ad simple. The best Facebook ad formula is as follows:

When targeting people who like Topic X, your ad should read:
“Click LIKE if you love Topic X!”

And that’s it.

Don’t try to put too much information in the already limited 90 characters of your Facebook ad. Once you bring new fans to your page, your content and brand information can relay to them how they will benefit from being involved with your Facebook page.

Promotions and Contests

A contest can be a great way to increase your reach, engage with your fans, and expose your audience to a new product or service that you’d like to highlight as well. But sometimes in our efforts to make the game fun and exciting, we forget how short people’s attention spans are these days! If your promotional campaign is too complicated or inconvenient, people will ignore it and move on. For a greater number of entries, it’s important to keep a low barrier to entry.

Don’t just be there. Be a person!

When it comes down to it, be social. It’s as simple as that. When posting and interacting with fans online, there’s no great secret on how to do it. Just be real. People are social creatures who like to engage with each other and have conversations. When acting as a brand, the easiest way to please your fans and community is just to respond to them when they talk with you! I’ve seen it plenty of times, but it still amazes me when fans say “Thank you so much just for answering me. Most pages don’t.” A simple acknowledgement is sometimes enough to make someone’s day.

What other simple social media rules do you follow? Share your thoughts in the comments!